Aequitas et Veritas
by KayLudlow
Summary: The War is over. Draco acts as protector for those still threatened by nostalgic enemies, but what happens when he runs into an old school enemy on the job? What happens when a protector becomes the protected? DM/HG. R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**Aequitas et Veritas**

**Chapter One**

"Close the door."

"Why?"

"Because, you idiot, do you want people to see her bloody body?"

"Oh right." He turned to the third person. "Close the door."

"Why should _I_?"

"Because! Do you want people to see her bloody body?"

"Well, no, but… why should I close the door? Dr—" The door slammed before the third man could finish his sentence, and the two men immediately ceased to argue. Quickly picking up the limp body of the young woman in question as though they'd been ordered to do so, the third man grunted in his low tenor voice, "Where do you want us to put her?"

"Gently place her on that sofa." The man who appeared to the other two as the leader of the pack turned his body to the door and softly opened it.

Letting go of the woman with slightly more force than gentleness, the third man shouted, "Why the ruddy hell are you opening the door? Do you want people to see her body?"

"Would. You. Shut. Up!" The tall blonde man at the door yelled in a whisper.

"Well sorry Sir, but you said to close the door."

"Keep your voice down." The blonde whispered. "I was checking to see if the hallway is clear."

"Where are we going Sir?" The other man dropped the rest of the woman on the couch.

"Don't call me Sir, and for Christ's sake you morons, I told you to _place_ her on the sofa _gently_. You idiots are going to give her a concussion!" The blonde angrily turned around, ignoring the man's question, and quietly re-opened the door.

The two men looked down at the lifeless body lying on the sofa, and then back up at each other in confusion. There was a mutual decision against arguing with each other signaled by a slight shrug of their shoulders and the second man restated his question. "Uh… so where are we going?"

"_We_ aren't going anywhere. _You_ are going to leave." He whispered without taking his attention away from the hallway he was investigating.

"Us? Leave! But why?"

"I have no use for you here. Besides it isn't safe for all four of us here. I'll come find you again."

"Why aren't you leaving?"

"Because, you fool, someone needs to take care of this, and God knows I can't let you two handle it."

"But she's dead!"

"Shh! What?"

"The girl. She's kicked it."

"You ass! She isn't dead!"

"She isn't?"

The tall blonde man of about twenty-five opened the door quickly. "Leave."

"What?"

"Do I need to spell it out for you? You heard me. Leave."

"But Sir we—"

"Don't! Leave now. I will find you when it's over." The two just looked at him. "Get. Out."

"Fine." The two men grumbled as they proceeded to push their way out of the room like four year olds.

"And for God's sake, be quiet!" The blonde man shut the door quietly and turned to look at the woman lying on the sofa in front of him. "Now… what am I going to do with you?" He walked in a quick stride to the side of the couch where he kneeled down to check the girl's pulse. She was about his age, but her colour had completely abandoned her. Apart from the slight beat of her heart, the woman was virtually dead. A huge gash accessorized her bland face making it practically impossible for him to identify her, but thankfully the blood had begun to clot. The blonde stood up and looked around the small room. It reminded him of an oversized cleaning supply closet. The sofa was unexplainable, but he wasn't questioning the girl's luck in that if it weren't in the room she'd be lying on the cold hard concrete. "Fuck. When did this ever sound like a good idea to me?" He had nothing; no supplies, no form of communication with the outside world, no food, and he had no idea how to help the vulnerable woman currently dying on the sofa.

The light began to flicker. He looked up at the loose light bulb hanging from the ceiling and reached up to twist it. Felling the insignificant burn on his fingers, the blub continued to flicker, and in a heavy rush of fury he punched it with every ounce of energy he had in him causing the bulb to explode and shatter throughout the room. "Great. That's just bloody brilliant."

To what should have been the man's great surprise, but came off as an uninteresting expectation, he heard the woman groan. "Well thank God for that." He kneeled down next to the sofa, feeling broken glass pierce into his knees, and gently felt up the girl's arm towards her neck to check her pulse again. He finally reached her slender neck and found that her pulse had indeed picked up its pace. He looked up towards the ceiling and spoke very clearly towards a higher being, "It's about bloody time."

Quickly standing up, crushing the lasting larger pieces of glass beneath his black boots, the man moved towards the door. He opened it slightly letting in a ray of light from the hallway and stuck his head out slightly. The coast was clear. Slowly and while putting great force on the door so as to keep it from squeaking, he opened the door completely allowing the light to poor in entirely.

He returned to the side of the young woman, and saw that she was covered in glass. Figuring that this was actually the cause of her sudden moan, he gently removed as much glass from the surface of her body as he could. Whilst in the process of doing this he could hear running footsteps from above. "Fuck," he whispered. "All right, time to go." He picked up her light body, and walked out the door and to the right. "You better be worth this. I'll have none of your damn mood after this is all over, you hear me?" Her lifeless body didn't respond, to which he commented, "yeah… I seem to get that a lot," and when he heard steps coming down the stairwell behind him, he broke into an effortless sprint.

He could see the red telephone booth ahead of him, but arrows were already flying past him from his enemies behind him. "_Spiculum, _eh?" The spell that sent flying arrows out of a dueler's wand had long been outlawed, but there were always those who thought it necessary to bring back the dead. Unfortunately these men lacked the necessary skill of aim. The blonde man reached the phone booth and set the woman quickly on the ground. He turned around and spoke clearly with an unforgettable smirk, "When are you lot going to learn… it's the Unforgivables you want to use against someone like me… " The two men who had been chasing him for almost two hours now, stopped running. "Farewell gentlemen… may you take heed of my advice. Until next time…" he shut the door, tipped off his imaginary hat to the men, and shot his wand into the air causing the telephone booth to lift off through the ceiling and out of sight. He emitted a proud chuckle, and shook his head. "Tossers."

The girl moaned again, and his attention immediately turned back towards her. "You missy, are a lucky one." He kneeled down next to her as the phone booth continued to rise its way out of the building. "Now… what sort of damsel am I dealing with this time?" Her white face covered in blood made it very hard to make any connections towards her identity so he resorted to his least favorite part of the job. He began to search her body for any form of identity, though he doubted the fiends he'd stolen her from had left her with any. When he thought he'd guessed right, he found a small chain bracelet around her wrist. "What's this?" He looked at the tiny engraved plaque and found something he'd never expected to find in all his time working with the ministry. He unclasped the bracelet to make sure he wasn't going blind, and to his verification the engraving stated the most simple, yet horrifying words he'd ever expect to come across in an assignment.

_Hermione J. Granger_

_Member of the Order of the Phoenix_

_Since 1998_

"Fuck."


	2. Chapter 2

**Aequitas et Veritas**

**Chapter Two**

"_Hermione! You have to get out! Now!" The dark haired man screamed as he ran to the chest of drawers in the corner of the room._

"_No! I won't! I can't let them kill you!" The girl, known as Hermione, screamed back in tears. _

"_LEAVE!" _

"_I won't! You can't make me!"_

"_Hermione please!" _

"_NO!" At her response, he turned back to the drawers and pulled out a wand, almost as though he had spares lying around the house. The two heard the door burst open at the bottom of the stairs, and Hermione let out a gasp. "Please Harry! We have to go!"_

"_No, Hermione. I'm sorry, but I have no choice." He slowly turned around and looked the girl square in the eyes as he raised his wand and clearly screamed, "CRUCIO!" _

_Before Hermione had the chance to react in any way suitable, she was on the ground writhing in immense agony._

_-Hermione-_

_I watched as, in an instant, my best friend took up arms against me and sent an unforgivable curse my way as though all his senses were completely void. I felt like a ticking bomb. The pain grew rapidly, exploding into a thousand tiny pieces. Every speck of pain created a new cloud of agony. Knives, bullets, hot acid, poison, fire… every muscle was mutilated with what seemed like a new weapon. I could feel my body seize in absolute torture as the pain drifted into my bloodstream. Mass volts of electricity were surging through my veins. My eyelids, which had been shut tight throughout this spell of torment, released as a shot of pain seared into my pupils as though they were gasping for oxygen. However, oxygen, it seemed, had been replaced with an overwhelming mass of carbon dioxide. My world was on fire._

_All I could see were the fiery pits of hell, and a shadow of light. Harry. Why was he doing this to me? I'm his best friend. Another piercing eruption of pain warped through my body, focusing on my throat this time. I was sure that if I could look at myself in a mirror I'd be able to watch my esophagus combust into a thousand splendid suns—my very own weapon of mass destruction… a personal atom bomb. It was taking time to travel to my head, however, like a slow poison paralyzing my existence. My taste buds sizzled as the fire crept towards my brain. I knew I'd be done for then. My nervous system would completely shut down, and I'd be a lost soul to these new gates of hell. I felt my tongue begin to tear into two. I could feel as my hot blood scorched its way down my throat and instantly turned into a fiery acid. I could feel it… I was turning into the devil._

_It finally reached my eyes again; seeping into my pupils as though they were tiny escape drains. I then realized that the pain that had overcome my body—the pain that was about to kill me with a surge of passion—had started to fade. I could feel the venom actually drain from my veins as oxygen overpowered it. _

_What was happening? Why was it stopping? The pain was slowly vanishing, and then I remembered. Harry! _

_-End Hermione-_

"_Sorry Hermione. I had no choice." Harry stroked the hair off her face and kissed her bloody forehead, before he walked out of the room. Hermione didn't move. Her eyes slowly shut as she felt the aftershock of pain from the Cruciatus curse her best friend had just performed on her. She listened as furniture exploded downstairs, and wizards shouted curses towards each other. Eventually she heard a loud blast, and about three of four men scream. She thought Harry was dead. He was up against a challenge without her by his side to help him. When all was finally silent, she'd decided that it was all over; her life, her future, everything was obsolete now that Harry was gone. She just lay there in pain, trying as hard as she could to rest peacefully. _

_Unfortunately her peace was interrupted by three loud men stomping up the stairs towards the room where she was lying on the floor. _

"_Well, well, well… what's this?" One of the men sauntered into the room where Hermione was lying on the ground. The other two men followed him in and saw the lifeless body of Hermione sprawled out as though she'd been in a torture chamber. _

"_Didn't think Potter had it in him." _

"_Shut up and take her." The first man barked._

_Hermione kept her eyes shut as the two men attempted to pick her up and tried not to breathe. She didn't understand. __**'Who are these people? What have they done with Harry?' **__She asked herself. _

"_I'm afraid I can't let you do that, gentlemen. That girl's coming with me."_

_Hermione wanted to open her eyes in the sudden excitement of another man showing up to rescue her, but knew if she showed signs of life, she'd end up just like Harry. _

"_Well, well, well, if it isn't the famous masked avenger. Give it up mate, the girl's ours. You'll have to kill us."_

_Hermione felt her body begin to fail. Trying not to breathe had caused extreme complications within her already failing organs and she began to feel the life drain out of her. She was falling unconscious and there was nothing she could do about it. If she were to live, she had to fade now. _

"_If that's what you want, I'm sure I could arrange it." The blonde rescuer said with a comical smirk."Now, if you'll excuse me…" He smoothly, yet swiftly took his wand out of his cloak and pointed it towards one of the men. He then quickly motioned the wand towards the wall and the man miraculously followed. He was quickly in chains up against the wall. His two friends quickly followed. "I have a prior engagement with this young lady, and I'm sure you wouldn't want me to miss it." He knelt down and picked up her lifeless body and promptly and effortlessly left the room. _

_He left the house, with the three arguing men in the upstairs bedroom, and found his accomplices at the front of the house with the car ready. "It's about time they did something right." He opened the door as he held her body with one arm, and then gently placed her in the back seat, followed by him. "Drive." _

"_Where are we going, Sir?"_

"_Just drive, and for Christ's sake, don't call me that."_

"_Yes, Sir. Ooh. Sorry… Draco."_

"_Shut up will you. I need to think."_

"_Sorry."_

"_Right… let's see." He looked down at the body of the girl. She had to be his age, at least, but she looked so young. "You're a pretty one, aren't you?" He whispered to her unconscious body. "I'm sorry about your face. I'll try to fix that later." Then he realized what he needed to do. He turned to the front of the car and instructed, "Hogwarts. Now."_

"_But Sir… Draco… it's been abandoned for almost five years now." _

"_Precisely. Now drive."_

"_I don't understand why we don't just fly or apparate."_

"_Because, you moron, this way we are less conspicuous, and it gives me time to think."_

"_Oh. Right." _

_They reached the abandoned castle within two hours, a sufficient amount of time for the three men to escape, Draco thought, which meant they had little time to fool around. They levitated the woman's body to the front doors of the dark castle, and quickly found a closet to hide in. _

"_Are we going to leave her here?" One of Draco's men asked. _

"_We might have to." Draco answered. "At least until I can fight those goons off."_

"_Well it's not like we can really help her anyway." Draco just ignored him. He was listening to the castle—his old school. He'd lived there for seven years, and in his time had experienced times where explicit listening was absolutely necessary. "They're already here. Close the door."_

"_Why?"_

"_Because, you idiot, do you want them to see her bloody body?"_


	3. Chapter 3

**Aequitas et Veritas**

**Chapter Three**

**The Patronus**

"What do you mean you don't want this assignment?"

"I mean, I want to be taken off the assignment. I'm not fit for the job." The blonde man, Draco, told the old man standing in the dark alley.

"But you're the best we have. There _is_ no one else. What am I supposed to do?"

"She can't be that important! She's just a girl!" Draco bellowed, even though he knew he was blatantly lying. Hermione Granger was one of the top protectors of the wizarding world. She was just like him, a protector… formally known as a Patronus. They were practically co-workers if it weren't for the fact that Patronus worked alone. There were no administrators, no secretaries, and no offices. There was a general consensus of how many protectors there were, and there were people who gave them assignments, but there were no connections. Draco didn't even know the name of his so called supervisor. He was merely a messenger—a Curser. The protectors had nothing to do with the messengers, and the messengers had nothing to do with the protectors.

"You don't know who she is, do you?" The man had to be at least seventy years old. His beard was just short of reaching his collar bone, and both of his eyes were glazed over. Draco didn't stop to question how a blind man could possibly fill the criteria for this job, because he really didn't know anything about the job. He needed to pay attention to the issue at hand.

"I don't need to know who she is. That's not part of my job. I'm given a location and a description of the victim and that's all I need to know. And right now, I know that this assignment is not right for me. You were the one who gave me the information, and you now need to find another Patronus to finish the job, because I'm not doing it." He looked down at the body of Hermione Granger with a tiny ounce of sympathy, but knew he couldn't let that alter his perception of the situation. Granted the war had been over for seven years, and the Malfoy family had been torn apart as a result, but this didn't mean Draco's tainted sensitivity towards Granger and the likes of her kind had vanished. His hatred for Hermione and her friends throughout his years at Hogwarts wasn't due to the simple fact that he was from a different world. He truly couldn't associate himself with Granger and the other two members of the trio. It would disgrace his entire life. Not simply because of blood distinctions, but because he already lived a life of hypocrisy, and this would only add to the damage. He had to keep some integrity. "I'm sorry, Sir, but that's my final word on the subject."

Draco turned towards the entrance of the alley and began to make an exit. Before he could take a step, however, the old man grabbed his arm. "It's her life, or yours." Draco ripped his arm from the old man's grip and put a small distance in between them. When he looked into the old man's eyes, he saw that the glaze had vanished and his eyes were transforming colors every millisecond. He had to assess the situation and decided whether or not he was actually dangerous, but when he realized that the man was no longer in the same reality as him he took a step closer.

He stepped up to the old man and touched his shoulder to try and bring him back to reality, but the man was in a solid state of stupor. "Sir?"

Suddenly, in a split second, the man fell to the ground and started heaving. Draco dropped to his knees and pulled the old man into his arms. "Sir?" He smacked his face a few times to try and revive him, but the heaving stopped and he showed no signs of life. "Sir, you need to wake up. I need you to explain what you just said to me. Sir?" It was useless, he was gone. Dead, or something.

He looked over to where Hermione was lying on the concrete. Apart from the large gash on her face, she looked like she was sleeping quite peacefully. He looked up to the sky, and swore under his breath. He gently lay the old man down on the ground and crawled to where Hermione lay. "I knew you'd be difficult." He lifted her into his arms and shot green sparks into the air. Almost immediately the black Mercedes he'd been in earlier that evening showed up at the entrance of the alley way. "Right… let's figure this out, shall we?"

He lifted her into the car, and told the man sitting in the front, "the Manor, now."

"The manor? Sir… do you think that's a good idea?"  
"When you were assigned as my assistant, the job description didn't require you to ask moronic questions every five minutes, so for God's sake will you please drive!"

The driver slammed his foot on the peddle and the car was flying down the street within a matter of seconds.

-Draco-

'_I need to think of something. What happens when she wakes up?'_ I couldn't help but panic on the inside. This woman was one of the few people I'd been successful in avoiding for the past seven years, and I didn't need that changing anytime soon. '_Christ. Why are you taking her back to the Manor?' _Thinking on the spot was becoming harder and harder as the old man's words blocked my head.

"It's her life, or yours." I spoke quietly to myself. '_What does that even mean! Her life or mine? Like she dies or I die? She lives, I live? She dies and I die? Some prophet!' _

"Can you please drive faster! She needs medical assistance!"

"Sir, we can always drive to St. Mungos if you need." The driver said with an unusually cheery disposition.

"I said the Manor. She is my assignment and I'll be damned if she's taken out of my sight. I can do it. Just drive faster. I can't side apparate her while she's in this state."

I found it ridiculous how easily I was swayed to protect Hermione Granger when my life being held on the line was now a possible threat. _'But why was the Cursor so informed? I've never encountered a messenger like that. He was personal. He knew about me.' _Thoughts of how and why this man had any connection to me, or Hermione for that matter, completely muddled my thought process which wasn't in any way helpful in the case of Hermione.

"Fuck. I knew I should have taught potions."

"Yeah, but think of this poor lassie's life had you not been there to save her." The man sitting in the passenger's seat laughed.

'_Think of her life had I not been there to fuck it up in the first place.' He thought._

-End Draco-

They reached the Manor in about thirty minutes, and Draco levitated Hermione's body into the house. Within seconds two female house elves popped into the room.

"Piper, take Hermione to the red room and make sure she's comfortable." Draco commanded one of them. She immediately did as she was told, and Hermione's body began to levitate up the stairs.

"Sir… she's unconscious… how will the 'ouse elf know if she's comfortable?"

Draco turned to his side kick and took a deep breath before speaking. "Will you please… do me a favor… and not speak for the remainder of time that you are in this house." He turned back around and looked down at the second house elf. "Libby, will you please bring me a bottle of our finest fire whiskey. I'll be in my study."

The little pink elf toddled off towards the kitchen and without giving his associates directions, Draco strode off towards his study, down the hall.

"Uh Sir… Draco? What do you want us to do?"

"What do you think?" He grumbled as he continued to stalk down the dark hallway.

The two looked at each other, and shrugged. "Shall we leave then?"

"As you wish."

"We'll see you tomorrow then." The other suggested as they slowly turned around, waiting for a response.

Draco didn't respond.

-Hermione-

I could feel a light cushion beneath my body as I finally regained enough strength to pull back into consciousness. My body ached. I didn't want to move, I didn't even want to open my eyes. I knew, however, that I needed to find Harry, and I couldn't do that lying around. I slowly opened my eyes and could feel dry blood crunch between my eyelids. My vision was completely blurred, and all I could capture was the immense amount of blood on my face obscuring my vision. I needed to sit up. I needed to get out of this place… this… this…bed. _'Who's bed is this? Where am I?"_

"Miss should really rest. Master says she must stay comfortable."

I wanted to scream but my face was in agony. "Wh-who are you? Wh-where am I?"

"Malfoy Manor, Miss. Would you like me to get the master for you?"

'_Malfoy Manor? Draco's house? What? Why? What's happened? And since when are people allowed to have house elves again?'_

"I'll get the master." The little green house elf had a small smile on her face—a mischievous smile.

Before I had the chance to tell her no, she popped out of the room. _'This isn't good.' _I had no idea how I managed to end up in Malfoy Manor, but at the same time I also knew I had no time to spare. I needed to find Harry. Disregarding the pain it took to sit up; I managed and found I was in the center of a beautiful ruby red room. It was unbelievable to imagine the Malfoy family had anything of such beauty. I sat in an oversized round bed with a silk, ruby duvet, eight pillows too many and a canopy to top the delicious sight off. As I continued to look around the room in a squint, due to pain, I found an awful sight straight ahead of me.

Right across from the gorgeous bed I was sitting on, I saw a vanity with a mirror that reached the ceiling above it. In the reflection of the mirror was the more ghastly image of my body I'd seen in years. I was sitting in naught but my bra, and my body was covered in cuts—deep cuts. My entire left arm was a solid black and blue bruise, and my face had a large diagonal gash from my forehead to my jaw line. I slightly remembered the part of my torture when my I felt my face begin to rip in two. I suppose it wasn't just part of the illusion after all. But the illusion was over. I was perfectly fine, and it wasn't my job to sit in bed and complain about a few battle wounds. I had a job to finish.

I cracked my neck, which in result sent a shiver of aching pain throughout my body, but as usual it also refreshed me. I threw the covers off my body and swung my legs over the side of the bed.

"Shit. Where's my wand?"

I began to look in the covers of the red duvet, and as I sifted through the sheets a deep voice spoke from behind me. "It isn't here."

I quickly turned around feeling the every bruise and cut on my body scream out in agony, only to find the infamous Draco Malfoy standing before me.

"Malfoy. So it's true. What have you done with my wand?"

"You didn't have one on you when I _rescued _you, Granger, so I'd shut it if I were you."

"Right, and I'm supposed to believe that you would ever consider rescuing me?"

"You're in my house, aren't you? I let you sleep in a state of the fashion bed, did I not? My house elves have been assisting you with your wounds for the past two days… oh and let's not forget the fact that I stole you from three men very much wanting to please a certain master of theirs. So yes, I would consider the fact that you being alive rather than dead is directly related to the fact that I rescued you."

"Rodolphus Lestrange?"

"The one and only, Granger. Who else would be trying to kill off one of the members of the Golden Trio? I'd do it myself, but it's not really in my job description to kill the people I save."

"You? _You're _a Patronus?"

"And so are you, or at least that's what I hear."

"What do you mean that's what you hear? Harry and I are constantly in that damn Daily Prophet. Of course that's what you hear."

"Don't read it."

"What? How do you _not_ read the Daily Prophet?"

"No time. No need."

"Well sorry. I didn't mean to assume the high and mighty Draco Malfoy would conform to the tradition of reading a bloody newspaper."

"If you knew anything about being a Patronus, you'd know I don't have time to read the damn thing, because I'm too busy saving lives, like yours… and I don't have the need to read it because the morose news of so and so going missing, or what's his name being killed is not news to me, because I was actually at the scene. But you Ms. Hermione-I-Know-Everything-Granger don't need to be told that, because it's in your name… you know everything." He walked over to the vanity with the mirror hanging above it and leaned over it, as though he needed to catch his breath.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

"Fine. I'll just leave then." I walked towards the door of the bedroom, but before I could walk out the open door, it slammed in front of my face.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

"Malfoy open the door!"

"Granger, get back in the bed."

"Malfoy!" I turned around in haste, and found his wand pointed directly at the door. "Open the damn door!"

"Sorry, Granger."

"I have assignments to get to."

"Not this time."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means… this time… you _are _the assignment."

-End Hermione-


	4. Chapter 4

**Aequitas et Veritas**

**Chapter Four**

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself Draco Malfoy. I do it for a living, you know?"

"Really? Because last time I checked you were the one lying on the floor of your best friend's bedroom and I was the one taking care of you. So shut up and just let this happen." He turned around and moved towards the dresser in the corner of the room. "Christ you're worse than my bloody mother." He hastily opened the top drawer and pulled out an article of clothing. "Here," he threw it on the bed where she was now sitting, "put this on. You'll be more comfortable in it than those jeans. Sorry I don't own any lingerie."

Hermione picked it up with her thumb and index finger as though it were a piece of moldy cheese and found it to be a long sleeved button down shirt. "Uh. There's a rip in it."

"I'm sorry." He said snatching it back in annoyance, "let me find you an Armani, shall I?"

She took it back, and complained, "and what am I supposed to wear under this?"

"Don't tell me you're one of those who go around without knickers on."

"Malfoy you're disgusting. I meant over my bloody knickers."

"Shy, are we? Don't worry I'm not about to come in here looking for a peep show. You'll have your privacy, you can be sure of that." He said with a smirk. "Now… get back in bed before I take measures into my own hands. If you want that gash on your face to clear up without scarring I'll need to have you well rested."

"You? Fix my face? Ha! As if I'd ever let you near me."

"Listen you filthy little mu—" but he thought twice about what he was about to say and realized he had been past that part of his life for seven years now… "Granger… as much as I would love to rearrange your face to look like the dark lord's ass, it wouldn't look good on my record. Now, if you'll be so kind as to get comfy… I have a lot of work to do, and you're keeping me as usual."

"I told you I didn't need your help."

"And I told you, I don't care what you have to say. So really it'd be much easier for both of us if you stopped talking."

He walked out of the room leaving Hermione with the ripped shirt and divinely comfortable bed. "Asshole."

-Draco-

'_I have to find something for her to do. She can't just sit there.' _"Why not?" I asked myself. _'Would you like it?' _"No, but that's beside the point. I'm not her… thank Merlin." I sat down behind my desk where I'd stacked a pile of folders. They were all the files of cases I'd dealt with before. I'd been doing research for the past two days on whether or not I'd come across the Cursor who died in my arms. I never paid attention to them before, but I knew their names were in each case file that was sent to me after I'd completed the assignment. Unfortunately I had nothing really to go off of seeming as Granger's case wasn't complete yet.

I let out a sigh and leaned back in my chair, placing my hands behind my head. _'What am I going to do?' _It was then that I heard a loud crash at the top of the stairs. Seven years ago it would have been my first instinct to rush out of my chair and check to see if everything was all right, but I knew exactly what was going on. "You aren't leaving this house, Granger!"

"I will kill you, Malfoy!"

"Christ, you give the woman a chance to lie in bed all day, and what do you get? A bloody mouthful." I got out of my chair, and walked to the bottom of the stairwell. "Darling, do yourself a favor. Get back into bed, get all cozy, and I'll see if I can get Piper to send you up some nice magazines and chocolates."

"Don't you dare call me Darling, Ferret."

"Ooh, that's a fresh one, back at school are we? Well if you want to do things the hard way, so be it. Get in bed." I began to walk up the stairs slowly.

"You can't make me."

"So we're taking it back to your primary school days then? Fair enough…" I took another step closer to her.

"If you hurt me, I'll—"

"Granger, look. If you want to have a go, I'm more than willing to rip you to pieces once and for all, but here's the thing. It is my job to protect you, and before you go off on your little rant about how you can take care of yourself, let me remind you that you and I both traveled on the same career path, which means that you and I both know that there is always a solid reason for why we do what we do. So _no_, I will not listen to your bickering anymore, and _yes_ you will go back to bed, because as long as you are under my roof, and under my watch _I'm_ the one in charge, and for once in your bloody life, you do _not_ know best. Is that understood, Granger?"

She stood at the top of the stairs completely flabbergasted. I began to turn around to head back to my work, when I heard her take a huge breath and whisper, "Draco!"

I turned around just in time to catch an unconscious Hermione Granger.

…

Thirty minutes later I was sitting on the edge of Granger's bed with my head in my hands. I then knew that I had to forget about the old man, and actually focus on Granger's recovery, because it was clear, whether I wanted to admit it or not, if I wanted to figure out anything about this old man, I was going to need her help. I'd figured it out… what I had to do to keep her out of my hair. I should've thought of it sooner. What did one do to keep a bookworm happy? Give them more work to do.

-End Draco-

"No I don't need you today." Draco spoke into the telephone.

"Are you sure Sir?" Draco, however, didn't grace his associate with his answer. He hung up and walked out of his office. It was too early to be dealing with incompetence. He walked into the kitchen clad only in his black boxers, and walked over to the coffee pot that had finally finished brewing. He summoned a mug, and poured himself a fresh cup of coffee.

"Tastes better without magic, doesn't it?" The voice of Hermione didn't startle Draco in the least. In fact, he almost expected it. He knew there was no way he could keep her in bed.

Without turning around to acknowledge her presence, he took a sip and said, "You should be in bed."

"I know what you did."

"Do you now?" He asked turning around and jumping up to sit on the counter.

Hermione winced at the sight of seeing him in naught but his boxers, but quickly got over the sight by remembering what she had come downstairs for. "You drugged me!"

"Well I'm glad to see you're still up to date on your schoolwork. Well done Granger, five points to Gryffindor!"

"Don't give me that, Malfoy! You drugged me against my will!"

"Yes, well… you weren't listening."

"So you tried to kill me?"

"Uh, I believe the point of you staying in this house is so that you don't die."

"Well what do you call slipping things into my tea?"

"I told you, you aren't leaving this house. Now, we can do this my way… or… we can go right back to you crashing and falling into my furniture, and then having me yet again save you from tumbling to your death on my staircase. Which would you prefer?"

She looked at him with extreme frustration, but sighed in consent. "May I at least have a cup of coffee?"

"You may have anything you want, my dear." He smirked as he jumped off the counter and grabbed a mug out of the cupboard.

"Ugh. Can you please stop calling me that?"

"First you complain that I call you names in school, and now that I use actual charming pet names you still complain. Get the stick out of your ass, Granger. If you're going to live here, we may as well try and get along."

She sighed a very heavy and exasperated sigh. "Fine, but can you at least put some trousers on."

"Come now Granger, I know you were a bit prude at school, but I'm sure you've seen a set of crown jewels before." He said with a mischievous smirk plastered on his face.

"Oh I've seen plenty in my day, which is why I don't need to be seeing your used goods, thank you very much." She took the mug out of his hand and walked towards the stairwell.

Draco looked down at his package and back at Hermione in astonishment. "In your dreams, Granger!"

She stopped in her steps, and quickly turned around. "No, Malfoy… in yours," and she made her way slowly up the steps, careful not to aggravate any of her wounds, leaving a very frustrated Draco Malfoy standing in his kitchen.

…

Draco didn't hear another word out of Hermione for the rest of the day. He made sure that Piper took up plentiful meals, and made sure she had an assortment of entertainment. Throughout his years as a Patronus he'd come across a collection of muggle objects beside the car and the telephone that not only came in useful, but also handed themselves to his amusement. The next day, however, he needed to figure out a way to ask Hermione for her help, without lending himself to the pure humiliation that accompanied asking any woman for help. In the end, though, he knew he'd just have to stop beating around the bush, because whether he liked it or not, there was no way he would ever live down asking Hermione Granger for help.

He walked up the stairs, trying to go through in his head what he was going to say, and he finally reached the door to where she had been staying for the past couple of days. Before he had the chance to knock on the door, he heard Hermione's snore.

"Fuck. Must she be this difficult all the time? When I want her in bed, she's all over the house like a bull in a flippin' china shop, and when I bloody well need her, she's blimmen comatose! Well sod that." He walked in anyway. "Granger, wake up."

"Sod off Malfoy." Hermione mumbled as she rolled over.

"No." He walked straight over to the bed, and pulled the covers off revealing Hermione in nothing but the button down shirt and pink frilly knickers. "Hmm. Well nice to see you have good taste. Get up."

"Malfoy!" Hermione scrounged to gather the sheets and cover herself up again. "Get out!"

Draco stalked over to the curtains and ripped them open letting the sun shine in. "I said, no. Remember? We had this chat already. I'm the boss. Now get up."

"Ugh." She said rubbing her eyes. "What?" He stood by the window and noticed that not only was his shirt ripped, but it was ripped in all the right places. It was wrong in all ethical ways, but he just couldn't pass up the chance to take a peek at the Granger beneath the bookworm. Hermione noticed he was staring and quickly looked down to find out she may as well be wearing nothing. "Malfoy!"

"What?"

"You're staring!"

"What! No! I would never stare at the likes of you. Dream on."

Hermione pulled the blankets up higher to cover the rest of her body. "What do you want, Malfoy? I was sleeping."

"I need… I need…"

"Yes…"

He turned around so that he wouldn't have to bear the look on her face, and quickly muttered, "I need your help."

"Excuse me?"

He slowly turned around and sat on the bed, facing away from Hermione. "Please… don't make this any more difficult than it already is. I need your help on something."

"Wow." She said flatly. Draco wanted to ask her "That's it?" but he quickly decided against it. He was winning his own battle here. "What do you need help on?"

"Well that's the thing. I need help… helping you."

"Ha! You mean to tell me, you've been giving me third degree on how you need _me_ to let you do _your_ job, and you don't even know what you're doing? Well someone call the queen and tell her to hang the bloody flag out, _Malfoy_ doesn't know what he's doing!"

"You don't understand." He said plainly, ignoring her rampage.

"No, I think I understand perfectly."

"Granger, would you shut it for one second? This isn't fun and games."

"I beg to differ." She laughed, clutching her side in pain as she did so.

"Granger!" He jumped up, grabbed her shoulders and shook her till she screamed. "Shut up!"

"You're hurting me!"

He released her instantly, not realizing how much agony she must be going through right now. "Sorry."

She took a deep breath and without glaring at him sighed, "It's okay."

"Will you please listen?"

"Fine."

"I need your help because the Cursor said something to me the night I rescued you."

"Okay…" He could tell she wasn't quite following him.

"You don't understand. He knew things about me. About _you_."

"What do you mean? They aren't supposed to know anything."

"That's what I'm trying to tell you! Listen. That night, I tried to give him back the assignment. I couldn't tell who you were because of the gash on your face and all the blood, not to mention I was kind of in a rush, and I don't know about you but I try very hard not to associate myself with the victim."

"That's because you're a heartless bastard, but go on."

"Right. Well when I finally found out you were you, I tried giving the assignment back for obvious reasons."

"Well we've all done that at some point."

"I know, but this time, he wouldn't let me."

"What do you mean he wouldn't let you?"

"He gave me some crap and bull story about how it was your life or mine, and then he died or something."

"What? What does that even mean?" She asked in disbelief.

"That's why I need your help."

Hermione looked at him blankly and, for once, all Draco could do was stare back at her with a hope that she might consider helping him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Aequitas et Veritas**

**Chapter Five**

A few days later, Hermione was ready to get started on working on the case… her case. She'd been lying in bed for a full week now, and the fact that she had a constant case of pins and needles in her feet due to lack of movement told her it was time to get out and about. Needless to say, Draco thought differently.

Draco's process of clearing Hermione's gash was, in Hermione's eyes, taking way too long. She wanted it to be gone, so, as usual, she took matters into her own hands. In the middle of the night she snuck into Draco's room and sifted quietly through his drawers, looking for his wand.

-Hermione-

'_Well at least the man is orderly.'_ I thought as I sorted through a drawer filled with black boxers. _'Unfortunately he doesn't have much taste. You'd think the all fashionable Draco Malfoy would have a little variety.'_ I put them back and pulled out another pair of the exact same color and brand. I then decided that as soon as I got my wand back I'd personally bring a little bit of color back into his life.

Unexpectedly, and to my misfortune a light flickered on from behind me. "Looking for this Granger?" I turned around and saw Malfoy sitting up in his bed with his wand lit.

'_Fuck.'_

"Taken an interest in my underwear, have you? I didn't know you'd be so quick to stray from your all mighty Gryffindor morals. But if it's what you want…" He threw his dark green, almost black, comforter off his body and shifted over so as to make room for me. It was almost easy to forget I hated him when he was sitting there in nothing but his obnoxiously black boxers. I suppose his work had some advantage… he'd certainly bulked up a bit. But I _couldn't _stray. It was Malfoy sitting in front of my, not a classy Quidditch gear model.

"You are disgusting."

"Me? But isn't this what you wanted?" He asked with a smirk.

"I will never… let me repeat that… _never_ get in a bed with you."

"Well…" he pulled the covers back over his half naked body, "in that case, would you kindly leave my personals alone and vacate my room. You're making it all stuffy."

"Gladly." I chucked the pair of black boxers back in the drawer and left it wide open as I made to leave the room.

"Oh and Granger?"

"What?" I asked without turning around.

"Don't worry about your pretty little face. I'll have it fixed in no time."

I didn't respond, and instead stalked out of the room in frustration, letting the door slam behind me.

-End Hermione-

"_Let me get that for you." Draco slipped the black bra strap off the pearly white shoulder in front of him. He replaced it with a simple kiss. Mimicking this on the other shoulder, he eventually slid the entire bra off her body. He softly moved his way up, and began circling his tongue around the sensitive spot at the nape of her neck making her moan. As he did this, his hand slowly trickled its way down her abdomen, making sure to graze her nipples beforehand. He teased her at the line of her panties, and could tell he had her in the palm of his hand. _

"_Please."_

"_Oh it will be my pleasure."_

_He was about to slide one finger into her warmth, when a loud crash was heard at the bottom of the stairs. "I KNOW YOU'RE IN HERE GRANGER!"_

Draco jerked awake and found himself not only aroused, but drenched from a sudden sweat. "Hermione!" He jumped from his bed and screamed her name again, "HERMIONE!" He ran into the hallway and towards her room. "HERMIONE!" He tried to open the door, but it was locked. "HERMIONE OPEN THE DOOR!" He could hear her screaming on the other side of the door. "FUCK!" He ran back to his room and in a split second was back with his wand. He pointed it at the center of the door and within seconds it was flying into a million pieces in all different directions. He ran through the debris covering his face and when he was inside he found nobody there, Hermione _was _screaming, however.

"Hermione!" He rushed over to her bedside, and found a tossing and turning Hermione Granger. She was drenched in her own sweat. "Hermione wake up!" But she wouldn't; she kept tossing and turning in his arms, as though she were trying to escape him. "Fine." He knew exactly what he had to do. He grabbed her face, closed his eyes, and concentrated as hard as he could. Eventually the walls around him vanished and he found that he was in the center of a stone cell with Hermione screaming on the ground, and none other than Rodolphus Lestrange standing about a foot away from her cringing body with his wand pointed directly at her.

"Hermione! You have to wake up!" He knew he couldn't touch her. He was trained in legilimency, but there were rules. If he touched her, he could harm both Hermione and himself.

"She won't wake for you, traitor!"

"Hermione! Listen to me!" I knelt down next to her. "He isn't real. He's just in your mind. You can stop this!" Lestrange started to bark in laughter. Draco looked up at him in anger, but he truly felt fear for Hermione. "Hermione, Come on!" She wasn't responding, however. She just continued to writhe and scream. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"

"Giving up? You Malfoys do it so well."

"Not in the least!" He pulled his wand out and screamed "CRUCIO!"

The image of Rodolphus Lestrange began to blur as he keeled over in pain. Draco was taking every ounce of energy to keep his mind focused. The pain was beginning to travel back towards him, as though Lestrange were countering it. The thing that Draco didn't understand was how he was doing it. This wasn't _his_ nightmare, it was Hermione's. He then noticed she'd stopped screaming. He looked over to where she'd been writhing in pain and noticed her body was beginning to fade. "Good girl Hermione!" He looked back to where he was holding Lestrange's body with one of the unforgivable curses. He was almost writhing in the same position that Hermione had been in seconds before, but Draco couldn't take it for much longer. Lestrange _was_ countering the spell, and Draco couldn't handle much more pain. His right arm was ready to explode. But then the stone cell vanished all together and he was back in Hermione's room. He was sitting next to her again. She was breathing deeply, and Draco knew it was over… for now. He knew she'd be okay. The pain then hit him. He was in agony—too much agony. His body collapsed onto Hermione's legs and she jerked awake to find Draco unconscious and on top of her. "Draco!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Hermione levitated Draco's unconscious body to his own bed. After checking his vitals and coming to the conclusion that he would be fine after some needed rest, she made her way back to her own room and began to focus on her own pain. Before she made it to her bed she doubled over in pain. She quickly remembered writhing on the ground under Rodolphus Lestrange's wand. She remembered having just enough strength to squint open her eyes. The man with a disgustingly long black beard who exposed his yellow teeth through the rough brush of his whiskers was beyond terrifying, and Hermione couldn't get him out of her mind. His constant torture through the use of unforgivables had left her battered and bruised, and she was in fear of the possibility of internal bleeding. She was about to attempt climbing into bed when she heard the bedroom door squeak open.

"Does miss need anything?" Piper was standing in the doorway when Hermione turned her head. She was currently kneeling in front of the bed clutching her side. When she looked down at her hand she found it covered in blood.

"Piper, I usually wouldn't ask…" She seethed in pain as she put her hand back on the wound for pressure, "But I really … need your… help." She was losing blood quickly and she was rapidly growing exhausted.

"Piper will help Miss."

"I need you… oh god…" Hermione clutched her side harder. "I need you to get me a blood-replenishing potion, and a needle and thread if you wouldn't mind."

"Yes Miss." Piper popped out of the room and Hermione returned to the task of climbing into bed. Using all of her strength she pulled herself up in one heave. Trying to take note of the streak of blood she left on the comforter so she could clean it later, Hermione returned her focus to her wound. She lifted her shirt and found, to her surprise, a lesion no bigger than an inch right above her belly button, as though she had been stabbed with a hunter's knife. Trying to remember the notes she'd taken back in school, she couldn't for the life of her recall anything about the Cruciatus curse where the injuries took physical form as though from a weapon. As far as she knew, and as far as she was taught the consequences of such a curse were internal, typically bruising and, if severe enough, internal bleeding. The lesion on her stomach didn't make any sense.

Piper was quick to return with the necessities Hermione had asked for and she thanked her wholeheartedly. She would be sure to reward her later for helping her when she was in dire need. Hermione had learned that house elves were much happier serving people than living life without work. She had made it her goal, after this realization, to treat every house elf with more than a significant kindness.

She was quick to stitch up her stomach. In the Great War she had learned that doing so could be the deciding factor in a life or death situation—the pain she could deal with later. She drank the potion and sat for about five minutes making sure to let it take effect. When she stood up to check on Draco, however, her stitches ripped open. "Damn it." Hermione mumbled as she seethed in pain and blood began to drip on the floor yet again.

"Does miss need any more help?" Piper asked thoughtfully.

"No, no, darling… I'm just not a very good medi-witch." Hermione smiled as she sat back down to re-stitch her wound. It took her a matter of minutes and just as she was about to ask the house elf for a sealant potion to help bond the cut more effectively, she watched as the stitches vanished one by one, as though melting into her body. "What in the name of—Piper did you see that?"

"Piper did see them leave, Miss. Very strange."

"Piper, would you mind fetching me a sealant? Perhaps that would help."

"Of course, Miss Hermione." She popped out of the room again.

"I wish I had my fucking wand." Hermione groaned as a paroxysm of pain surged through her body. When Piper returned, she stitched up the cut once again and lightly syringed a few drops of the sealant over each stitch. "There we go. We'll see how long that'll hold." When she stood up she felt the stitches pull, and she checked to see if the stitches would hold. She found that they were fighting the sealant. "What is going on?" Suddenly Hermione fell to the ground due to another bout of excruciating pain.

"Miss! What's wrong miss? How can Pip help you miss?"

"Piper you have to wake up Malfoy!"  
"But the master is unconscious, Miss!" Piper began to panic.

"Never mind that Piper. I need help! You've got to find a way to wake him up!" Hermione cringed in pain on the cold hard floor. "Go, Piper!"

The little house elf departed the room in panic, leaving Hermione to bleed and fend for herself. She found Draco lying comatose in his bed. He lay without expression, and if it weren't for his scattered breath the elf would have taken him for dead. She moved to the side of his bed and poked him ferociously, if it weren't for her directions she wouldn't dare hit the master in such a way. "Master, Piper is sorry, but the master must wake up. The Miss Hermione is in danger. Please, Master!" She realized he wasn't going to wake up on his own, so the house elf found Draco's wand. "Piper is so sorry for this, Master." She pointed the wand at Draco's head and yelled with as much passion as she could muster, "RENNERVATE!" A loud explosion burst out the end of Draco's wand and hit him square in the forehead. When the smoke cleared, Piper found her master's hair to be frayed and black bags lying beneath his eyes. "Oh Master! Piper is sorry! Please, Master! Wake up!"

"Yes, Piper I'm up!" Draco said as he scrunched his eyes closed to try to relieve himself from the slumber he had just left. "What happened? What's wrong!"

"It's the Miss Hermione. She's hurt!" Before she could continue her explanation Malfoy was out of bed clutching his wand in his right hand, and rushing as quickly as he possibly could to Hermione's room. Piper heard her master swear and she knew he would need her assistance so she apparated into Hermione's room. "What does the master need?"

"I need blood-replenishing potion, sealant, two bezoars, and a double shot of malt whiskey. Go!"

Piper quickly popped out of the room for a third time and Draco focused on keeping Hermione alive. "Hermione. Look I need you to talk to me! Come on, Darling. Focus!" He lightly smacked her cheeks to gain her attention and grabbed her face so she wouldn't dose off. "I know it hurts, but you have to stay awake. I'm going to help you, but you need to help me, okay?" Hermione just moaned. She had lost too much blood and she was quickly losing consciousness. "Damn it! Piper!" The house elf was still gone. "Hermione! Stay awake!" He slapped her cheeks harder, and Hermione came back slightly. "That's it love. Now come on! Talk to me. What's your name?" She mumbled something along the lines of her name. "Good girl! Who am I?" She closed her eyes again. "No, no, no! Hermione you've got to stay with me! Piper, damn it where are you?" The house elf popped back into the room struggling to hold everything, and balancing the whiskey on her head.

"Sorry, Master."  
"It's fine, just come here." He took the whiskey off her head, took a quick sip of it and splashed it on Hermione's wound, resulting in her waking up and screaming in pain. "I know it hurts Hermione, but I've got to." He pushed a bezoar in her mouth and pushed her jaw upwards causing her to crack its shell. She began foaming at the mouth and Draco knew this was just a sign of the poison leaving her system. "That's it, Darling. One more." He pushed the second one in her mouth and forced her jaw upwards again. This time she began to gag. The froth that escaped her mouth began to turn green and Draco noted that for after she was okay. He would have to research this. He looked at the gash above her belly button and wondered why such a smile lesion was causing her this much trouble. It didn't take much to put two and two together that this was obviously a result from the dream she had just experienced, but he was confused as to how it had affected her in such a way. When had Rudolphus stabbed her? He used his wand to sew up the wound and poured the sealant over the stitches thoroughly. When he was satisfied that they wouldn't open up again, he picked her up and placed her gently in the bed. "You're a pain in my ass, Granger. You know that?" He tenderly placed the blankets over her and noticed the streak of blood on the duvet. "What's this?"

"Miss has been bleeding a lot since you went to sleep, Master."

"I didn't do it on purpose, Piper!" He snapped. "And what do you mean she's been bleeding a lot?"

"The Miss' stitches kept re-opening. One time they disappeared too. Very strange to watch, Master."

"Shit. Okay, thank you Piper. You're dismissed." He turned back to Hermione who was still unconscious. "Hermione, you've got to wake up." She just moaned and shook her head slowly from side to side as though she were suffering another nightmare. "Rennervate!" He spoke clearly and harshly, but refused to yell. It was his belief that however dire the situation, he should never lose composure; he found that it only made things worse. Draco was relieved to find that the comatose Hermione began to revitalize. "Hermione… you need to help me out Hermione. What's going on?"

"Draco! Something's wrong with me." A tear rolled down Hermione's cheek and for the first time, Malfoy saw fear in his enemy's eyes. He was more surprised, however, when she crashed into his arms.

He didn't know what else to do, other than to focus on calming her down. She'd be no help to him in this state.

"It's okay, Hermione. I've patched your wound for now."

"Draco! It reopened when I tried to sew it up!"

"I know… Darling you have to calm down." He continued to stroke her hair and hold her. "You have to tell me exactly what happened. Start with Rudolphus and your nightmare."

"How do you know about that?"

Draco looked at Hermione incredulously. "Hermione, I was there. I used legilimency because I had a nightmare myself."

"You came **in here** because you had a nightmare?" She asked amused.

Ignoring her enjoyment, Draco continued. "I had a nightmare where someone attacked the house looking for you. Then when I woke up I heard you screaming. When I got to the door it was locked, hence the mess." He said nodding to the floor covered in shattered wood pieces. "When you wouldn't wake up I used legilimency and found you under the Cruciatus curse, compliments of, yours truly, Rodolphus Lestrange. When I got there, I knew I couldn't touch either of you, so I performed the curse on him instead, and the weirdest thing happened. It was something along the lines of the priori incantatum effect. The curse began to fight its way back towards me and eventually I would have had to stop. Thankfully you woke up before that occurred. I'm guessing that's when I lost consciousness and you found me."

"I see."

"But what happened in the nightmare before that? Do you remember anything?"

"I remember it all. I don't remember you, however."

"What?" Draco asked in confusion. "But that doesn't make any sense. Lestrange saw me plain and clear. He even spoke to me."

"I swear, I may have been half conscious the whole time, but I remember having my eyes and ears. You weren't there."

"Okay, we'll deal with that later. What happened? When were you stabbed?"

"That's the thing… I wasn't." Hermione looked down at her blood stained shirt and back up at Draco. "Rodolphus simply enter my dream where I was looking for something. He told me to hand over the formula, and when I refused, he performed the Cruciatus curse on me. I'm assuming that's about when you showed up."

"Formula? What formula?"

"I have no idea."

"Okay. You need to drink this." He handed her a blood-replenishing potion and she gulped it down quickly. "We're going to begin work on this tomorrow. You should be healed enough by then to work, right?"

"We can begin now, if you want." She said plainly.

"No. We both need to rest, and I need to think."

He began to leave the room, when Hermione stopped him. "Draco."

"Mm?"

"What do I do if he comes back? I'm not trained in occulumency."

"Well this is a first. You don't know how to do something?" He was thoroughly amused. "I suppose the know-it-all doesn't actually know everything after all." When he realized that Hermione was being serious, and that she actually feared Rodolphus Lestrange's return, he stopped. "Would you like me to stay? I can have Piper make up a cot."

"I can sleep in the cot." She offered.

"No. You're injured."

"Yes well you've been hurt too."

"I'm not the one who's bleeding. You will sleep in the bed, end of story."  
"How about a compromise?" Hermione offered.

"Well this is rich. You want me to sleep with you?" Draco scoffed trying to hide the fact that sleeping next to Hermione didn't sound half bad.

"I suppose you could call it that." Hermione said ignoring his reaction.

"Well, well, well… I knew you'd warm up to me eventually."

"Not so fast, Malfoy. You will, by no means, be getting lucky tonight. I was merely suggesting we share the bed."  
"Don't you think, since it is I who am doing you the favor that you should at least give me something in return."

"You're welcome to sleep on the cot."

"I'm just saying Granger." He smirked.

"Fine. You know what? Never mind. I don't need you."

"Fine. I'll just go to my room, in that case."

"Fine." She snarled.

"Sweet dreams, Granger." Draco spoke with sarcasm, shutting the door behind him.

"Jerk." Hermione mumbled.

Draco lay awake with his arms resting behind his head. He couldn't get her dream out of his mind, and he couldn't for the life of him understand how she received that wound on her stomach. He looked at the clock on his bedside cabinet and saw that it was now four in the morning. He let out an exhausted sigh, and attempted to remove Hermione from his mind. Just as he was about to doze off, Piper entered his bedroom.

"What is it Pip?"

"The Miss Hermione is having another nightmare, Master."

Draco let out another sigh, and though Piper took it as sigh of frustration, Draco was actually relieved to hear that he could help her again. "I'll take care of it Piper. Go back to bed."

"Thank you, Master." The house elf disappeared, and Draco walked briskly to Hermione's room. Relieved to find that her door wasn't locked this time, he opened it and found Hermione tossing viciously in her bed. Fearful that she would rip her stitches open he rushed to her side and grabbed her shoulders to keep her still. When he took her in his grasp, she shook awake.

"Draco!"

"You were having another nightmare."

"It's okay. I'm fine. You can go back to bed." She said in a hushed tone. She was absolutely exhausted, and Draco could tell not only by her calm, scattered words, but also by the fact that she struggled to keep her eyes open.

"Okay." He sighed, disappointed that she refused to let him help her. He let her shoulders go and she instantly fell asleep again. As he was beginning to leave the room he heard her moan again. He looked back and found her beginning to toss again. "Sorry, Granger. You're just going to have to deal." He walked backed over to the bed and climbed in next to her. Making sure to lie on top of the blanket, he put his arm around Hermione and she shook awake again.

"Malfoy? What are you doing?"

"You're going to rip your stitches open if you keep tossing like you are. Don't worry. I won't try anything."

She looked up at him and he returned the gaze. When she was satisfied that he was telling the truth, she curled up next to him. "I'm warning you, Malfoy." She mumbled and dozed off again.

Draco continued to watch Hermione as she slept. He stroked a strand of hair out of her face and let out a final sigh. "I know you are, Darling," and he let himself fall asleep. The two slept soundly through the rest of the night.

**Please review…**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. **


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